Thomas Fairbanks, a 71-year-old Cache County resident, has been sentenced to an additional 30 days behind bars for failing to appear at a sentencing hearing for a securities fraud case. Fairbanks, who had already been handed a 27-month sentence in April this year for the fraud, will serve this extra time consecutively, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
In the initial case, Fairbanks was convicted of defrauding two individuals out of $270,232 through a scheme involving his fraudulent company, SupplyLine Partners. Court documents reveal that Fairbanks was supposed to appear before U.S. District Court Judge Jill N. Parrish on May 24, 2023, but he failed to materialize, leading to an arrest warrant and his subsequent apprehension in February this year. During his fraudulent activities, Fairbanks falsely promised to invest the victims' money and pay out a 6% interest, neither of which he did.
The investigation into the fraudulent dealings was a joint effort between the Utah Division of Securities and the FBI's Salt Lake City Field Office. The prosecution was carried out by Assistant United States Attorneys Ruth Hackford-Peer and Kevin Sundwall. They presented evidence showing that not only was SupplyLine Partners never a registered company, but Fairbanks also had no authority to sell securities or solicit investments for the entity. His deceitful pitch deck and investor seminars were central to luring the victims into the scam.
This case serves as a poignant reminder of the seriousness with which the justice system treats failure to appear in court, particularly in cases involving financial crimes. Fairbanks is expected to serve out his sentence for securities fraud and the additional punishment for his attempt to evade justice. As it stands, Fairbanks’ choices to not just defraud, but also to try to slip beyond the grasp of his sentencing, have only further tightened the legal coils around him.
